In the summer of 1956, the famed Harlem congressman Adam Clayton Powell arranged for Dizzy Gillespie to embark on a worldwide goodwill-ambassador tour sponsored by the State Department. Gillespie and an all-star big band featuring trumpeter Quincy Jones, the late trombonist Melba Liston, alto saxophonist Phil Woods, and tenor saxophonist Benny Golson performed in Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil to frenzied, beret-wearing fans. Recordings were made but they weren't commercially available and were played only for a select group of musicians before Gillespie's death in 1993. Now the sides have been released, showcasing Dizzy at his bebopping best.

A movie as appealing and savory as the heaping piles of dinosaur sh*t that pass for its sight gags, 1980's Caveman ranks among the worst bombs Hollywood ever produced. Though a vehicle for Ringo Starr, the erstwhile Beatle did not record the film's soundtrack, with that, uh, "honor" going to the great screen composer Lalo Schifrin. Somehow Schifrin manages to rise above it all – especially given the circumstances, his Caveman score ain't half bad: though its epic sweep would have been far better suited for a movie worth watching, this is the kind of melodramatic score harking back to Hollywood's golden era, complete with eruptions of brass and strings. And in keeping with the prehistoric plot, there's even a tribal energy to the percussion – sounds silly, but it works.